Creation of category guidelines
Due to the repeated category vandalism this Wikia has suffered, and a great misunderstanding of how categories work and why they should be created, this page of guidelines for categories is to show contributors to the Wikia why and how to constructively create categories. When to create categories Categories should be created to either allow for easy navigation of the Wikia, or because the category in question fits a wide range of creatures, features, NPCs, buildings, items, etc. in Zoo Tycoon. Zoo Tycoon categories that should not be created in most cases are categories such as niche categories that only apply to a few animals in the game. For example, Saber Toothed Cats should not be a category --- this only applies to a few creatures in the Zoo Tycoon franchise and fandom. Categories not allowed on the Wikia include ones that are related to dinosaur eras. Exemptions may be made as the Wikia continues to build, but due to the fact these categories pertain very little to helping people navigate the Wikia and often only cover a few Zoo Tycoon creatures, they should not be created. Also unwelcome are categories that are blatantly incoherent, obvious vandalism, or do not follow the grammatical rules of other category titles. How to create categories When clicking "add a page," putting "Category:" without quotation marks before a page name will cause it to be created as a category. Categories can also be created when clicked on in the category line of an article, if the category in question has not yet been officially created. While creating a category, it should be added to relevant categories. For example, a category on a variety of mammalian animal found in Zoo Tycoon 2 would belong to the categories "Mammals," "Animals," and "Zoo Tycoon 2." Any category should also belong to the "Categories" category. Broad categories, such as a category that applies to all insects in the Zoo Tycoon fandom and franchise, should belong to the "Browse" category. Categories should NOT, however, be added to categories that should be added to them. For example, the "animal" category should not belong to the "Bear" category, but the Bear category should belong to the animal category. Categories should also have a brief coherent description of their purpose. Categories with an indeterminable purpose with an incoherent description on their purpose are likely to be deleted, due to the fact they cannot be used. When not to use categories Categories should not be added to articles when irrelevant. Lions should not be added to bear categories merely for the fact lions and bears are both land-dwelling carnivores. Any animal should not be added to every single animal category based on the pure fact they are animals. An animal should not have categories added to it's page on the basis that there are creatures similar to it in that category. A category should only be added when the category expliticly applies to a creature. Category vandalism and its consequences Creation of categories described in this page as unallowed will result in an immediate one week ban. This is for the reason that categories are easy to add to articles and opposedly difficult to get rid of, and sometimes difficult to spot, as well as the fact that there have been many problems on the Wikia with certain category creation being warned against many times to no avail. Otherwise, creation of unnecessary categories will be followed up with warnings and explanations as to why the category is unnecessary. Repeated creation of unnecessary categories after two warnings will result in being banned from the Wikia for one week. After that, repeated unnecessary categories will result in a two month ban, and a six month ban afterwards if the user has contributed nothing particularly helpful to the Wikia on a regular basis. If they have regularly contributed to the Wikia and been helpful, they will be given a four month ban. Creation of unnecessary categories after a six month ban and contributing nothing to the Wikia will result in a one year ban, or an eight month ban if they have contributed regularly. To be reinforced once this wiki is a bit cleaner Category:Wikia maintenance Category:Help